Bad Ass: Acima da Lei

Alright I think all of us know that this for Danny Trejo's sake was not going to be anywhere near the caliber of Machete, that was funded in the millions & written very well. What we have here is a decent low budget VOD or netflix watch. The story is very simple, Trejo a man who served 7 years in the Vietnam war & upon arriving back to society he faced what every soldier faced upon returning home, a place to fit in. He struggled through the next 40 years running his hot dog stand & minding his own business. Then one day on a public bus he kicked the crap out of two punks harassing an old man & it was filmed by another bus rider & leaked onto the internet. It goes viral & he is proclaimed by the public as "Bad Ass". A title he wasn't looking for but he was happy to finally be fitting in with society.

After his one & only friend was murdered senselessly he became the man the public wanted him to be & started on journey of ass kicking his way to find answers. This film won't win any awards but it was certainly entertaining for 90 minutes, and all you punks giving it a 1 rating should go sky diving without a parachute because obviously your brainless body is just in the way. It's 5/10 solidly, actually it's worth more than that for the great message it leaves the viewer. So to belittle this fine piece of film is in itself a crime!

I couldn't help thinking of Gran Torino & Harry Brown a bit at times due to the fact of all three characters being in a war, all being senior citizens & all they wanted was a little peace & a bit of happiness and they were "called" back into duty for something they truly believed in.

First of all my husband I only watched this movie because we both love Danny Trejo. The previews made this movie look pretty good. It started out pretty good, but then it just became so bad we were laughing the entire movie. Even good actors can't save cheesy lines. The whole time we just kept saying that Trejo is in his sixties!! Unbelievable. That man is the epitome of the Hollywood dream. From criminal to D movies to great character actor and then starring roles. Awesome! This movie is great to watch Mystery Science 3000 style. We like to try and catch movie mistakes and look up actors while watching every movie. Its fun and funny. Don't try to make it more than that and you will enjoy it.

..So says a police officer that is on Frank Vega's (Danny Trejo) side. The film is a by the book revenger. There are probably a thousand and one films like "Bad Ass." But Danny's the star, and that makes all the difference. Also, he's a nice guy in this one and doesn't start beating people up until the bad guys force him to beat them up. Lots of action, some blood, and a whole lot of butt kicking. If you're a fan of revenge films, it is recommended.

This is a low-budget entry in a sub-genre. The Geriatric, OG, Geezer, violent Vigilante Movie. With the aging Baby Boomers we are likely to see quite a few more. It has always been cathartic to see Superheroes and maybe regular Folks standing up to oppression and intimidation. From Robin Hood to Batman to Paul Kersey to Harry Brown, we get satisfaction from their noble efforts.

In this one Danny Trejo gets to show some good acting chops as an against type, soft spoken, good hearted Bad Ass. He is quite good here with more range than usual and demonstrates why he has so many devoted fans.

The Film itself is not very well constructed and has some barely needed and sometimes embarrassing subplots, like the fetching Female neighbor with the cute and wise-cracking Son. But the action is acceptable and quite violent at times.

Not a bad Movie but does not quite rise to the level of a Cult Movie with staying power or a gritty real-life Noir. It really does not know what it wants to be and for that matter and that lack of direction the Film fails to be better than a standard B-Movie.

I don't really care where the idea came from, this film was a lot of laughs. Imagine Danny Trejo doing his old and tough routine, but doing it with humour and a physicality that few could achieve aged 68. And it wasn't just him. Ron Perlman did a bait and switch again, appearing only a few scenes into the movie, instead the role of the villain being taken by Charles S. Dutton, who also appears only a few times, but it is obvious he is having just as much fun as Trejo did. Add in a little bit of Harrison Page and you have your geriatric A-team in a film that felt pretty close to real. Even Richard Riehle did a small appearance.

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. The hero of the city for beating up a few guys, maiming and killing a few others, that wasn't realistic or cool, really. The explosions and gun shot effects were shoddy and low budget, but let's face it, the movie wasn't about special effects. And the girlfriend stuff... let's say it was completely unnecessary and threw me off a little.

But bottom line, this is a low budget, yet very fun film, without being a true comedy. It is full of good humour and references to other films of the genre, like Death Wish. I liked it a lot.